Money and booze

We sometimes encounter strange trademark applications in our daily brand practice. We have never seen this one before: a three-dimensional trademark in the form of a bag of money. This mark has been filed in the EU for alcoholic beverages.

Will the EUIPO accept this mark for alcoholic beverages? Although the same rules apply for a three-dimensional trademark as for a word mark or logo, it is a fact that three-dimensional trademarks are less likely to be perceived as trademarks. Case law tells us that a three-dimensional trademark must differ significantly from what already exists. In our view, that is the case here: a bag with money containing a bottle is not very common as far as we know. But whether this packaging will also be perceived as a trademark?

We definitely are interested in the opinion of the EUIPO in this respect. The trademark is not yet accepted. This could have some other reasons of course, but often, this is not a very good sign. To be continued!